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Pakistan firm accused of advertising
smokescreen
By Muddassir Rizvi
ISLAMABAD - Many expected this month's move by
Pakistan's largest cigarette manufacturer to halt
advertising in the electronic media to be lauded by
health activists, but they say that the move is aimed at
scoring social-responsibility points to dodge wider,
tougher regulations.
Indeed, the move by the
Pakistan Tobacco Co has put anti-tobacco groups on the
wrong foot. A week into the withdrawal of the
advertisements, they are now demanding that the industry
abide by the recently promulgated anti-tobacco law,
which only subjects promotion of tobacco products to
so-far undefined regulations, instead of totally banning
it.
Pakistan Tobacco Co, which pulled its brand
advertisements from the electronic media starting on
January 1 this year, is the local subsidiary of the
British American Tobacco (BAT). "The company has taken
the bold initiative and has voluntarily decided not to
use television and radio for cigarette advertisements
from January 1, 2003 onwards," Pakistan Tobacco Co said.
The company said that it took the decision to
come up to the "reasonable expectations" of society.
"Many people, including parents, are concerned about the
influence of advertising on children (and not just
tobacco advertising), even though there is ample
evidence to suggest that tobacco advertising is not the
main cause in the decision of adults or youth to smoke -
the key drivers are youth culture, peer-pressure and
family influence," it said.
Pakistan Tobacco's
decision surprised anti-tobacco activists, who find
themselves unprepared to respond to something that they
had been demanding for a long time. They have long
campaigned for a total ban on tobacco promotion,
particularly in the electronic media, calling it the
industry's frontline strategy to get the youth hooked on
tobacco.
"The Pakistan Tobacco decision is
another of its ploys to delay the adoption of rules and
regulations for the recently promulgated ordinance on
tobacco control," said Dr Ehsan Latif, who heads the
World Health Organization-funded Tobacco Free Initiative
Pakistan.
His position shared by the Pakistan
Anti-Tobacco Coalition, an umbrella organization of more
than 10 public health groups from across the country.
"The government, after the promulgation of the
anti-tobacco ordinance, has the duty to formulate strict
rules and regulations for its implementation. It should
not be misguided by the efforts of the tobacco industry
that is trying to appear as socially responsible and a
benevolent harbinger of the economy," Latif said.
Actually, the ordinance that Latif was referring
to does not bar the advertising of products, though it
bans the sale of cigarettes to juveniles and smoking in
public places, besides spelling out heavy penalties for
violators.
Promulgated in October last year, the
ordinance only envisages a regulatory framework for
tobacco promotion campaigns, to be drafted by the
Ministry of Health. However, the Health Ministry has yet
to set up a multi-stakeholder committee, as required by
the ordinance, to devise a set of standards for tobacco
promotion to ensure that it is not directed to youth.
This committee will also act as the censorship focal
point for all promotional campaigns aimed at all media.
For its part, the Health Ministry welcomes
Pakistan Tobacco's decision and says that activists'
arguments are meant to oppose for the sake of
opposition. A ministry spokesman denied that the tobacco
companies are influencing the framing of rules for the
ordinance, attributing the delay to the transition in
government that is taking place from military to
civilian government after the October elections.
"We welcome Pakistan Tobacco's decision and
expect other companies to follow suit," the official
said. "If a corporate entity is taking upon itself more
than what is required under the law, its step should be
appreciated."
Pakistan Tobacco says that it
hopes that other companies will follow suit, in apparent
reference to Lakson Tobacco Co, the second biggest
cigarette manufacturer and a subsidiary of Philip
Morris.
Together, the two companies hold more
than 75 percent of the tobacco market share and account
for 90 percent of advertisements in Pakistan. If they
withdraw their adverts from electronic media, the
government-run Pakistan Television will be the biggest
loser because it gets 35 percent of its revenues from
tobacco promotion advertisements.
But activists
maintain that experience from across the globe has shown
that voluntary codes adopted by tobacco industry do not
work. "Partial bans on tobacco promotion are never
effective and should not be regarded as a replacement
for a complete ban on all kinds of tobacco promotion,"
said a spokesman for the Pakistan Anti-Tobacco
Coalition. "If the message passed on the electronic
media for tobacco promotion is detrimental to the health
of the children, then how can you exclude billboards
which are present all around you?"
But Pakistan
Tobacco says that it is going beyond the legislative
controls in keeping with the International Marketing
Standards (IMS) and the policies of its parent company -
BAT - and two other major tobacco firms, Philip Morris
and Japan Tobacco International.
The IMS is a
set of minimum standards for the responsible promotion
of tobacco, aimed at ensuring that no marketing activity
is directed at or appeals to those under 18 years of
age.
Among others, these standards also bar
outdoor advertisements on billboards that exceed 35
square meters; and suggestive references in
advertisements to the enhancement of sporting or
athletic success, popularity, professional success or
sexual success.
They restrict the placement of
tobacco products, advertisements or items bearing
tobacco brand names within the body of any film,
television program, or other public media.
"The
company is in the process of ensuring compliance with
all these standards - some we have already complied
with," said a statement by Pakistan Tobacco.
(Inter Press Service)
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